1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of balancing vehicle wheels and more particularly to a wheel balance weight and method for facilitating the balancing of vehicle wheels when using the electronic balancers that indicate the proper weight to be applied and the location on the wheel to properly counterbalance the wheel.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Adhesive backed weights are known to those skilled in the art and have been disclosed for instance in U.s. Pat. Nos. 3,177,039 and 3,273,941. However in each instance the weight cannot be applied at the flange of the rim where a conventional clip-on weight is attached because it has been found that they have a tendency to dislodge during operation of the vehicle or cannot be applied in the first instance. These adhesive backed weights heretofore had to be secured on a radially inner surface of the rim where the centrifugal force maintains the weight in contact with the rim.
The adhesive backed weights of the prior art were never shaped in a manner that would permit such weights to be located in the rim flange in contact with the protruding lip. The typical adhesive backed weight was designed simply to be adherent to a radially inner surface on the wheel and not to be positioned on the rim flange adjacent the protruding lip. Such location requirements however are not easily met with the variety of wheels having radial surfaces at differing locations from the rotational axis of the wheel.
The problem is particularly acute when utilizing the conventional electronic balancers of the prior art. Present electronic balancers indicate the amount of the weight to be applied and the angular location to position the weight on the wheel rim flange rather than any radially inner surface of the wheel.
The angular location indication as well as the weight indicated by the balancer do not take into consideration that the adhesive weights must be applied to the radially inner surface. Since the radially inner surface is at a radial distance from the center of the wheel considerably less than the distance to the rim wheel flange, the magnitude of the correcting weight is sure to be incorrect unless the operator has made some mental adjustment. It is likely, then, that large errors will occur in the correction process and that further spins of the electronic balancer will be required. On subsequent spins of the electronic balancer, similar errors will occur and a similar cut-and-try process will take place.